Had a 97 Mercury Mountaineer come into the shop with a torn up right front axle, not so uncommon of a problem. But after I replaced it and took it on a road test, it tore the new one up right away! When I got back to the shop and started looking around a little closer I realized that the axle was actually making contact with the torsion bar. I called the lady who owns it and asked if it had been in an accident or anything (thinking something was bent) and she said that she had owned it for two years and never been in an accident and the problem had just started. What is going on here? Has anyone else run into this problem before?

Had a 97 Mercury Mountaineer come into the shop with a torn up right front axle, not so uncommon of a problem. But after I replaced it and took it on a road test, it tore the new one up right away! When I got back to the shop and started looking around a little closer I realized that the axle was actually making contact with the torsion bar. I called the lady who owns it and asked if it had been in an accident or anything (thinking something was bent) and she said that she had owned it for two years and never been in an accident and the problem had just started. What is going on here? Has anyone else run into this problem before?

If you saw that the axle made contact with the torsion bar perhaps someone had attempted to lift it (t/s lift: torsion bar crank, rear shackles installed) as it's a relatively cheap lift to do (around $100 with someone's labour). Perhaps the previous owner took the lift off and cranked the torsion bars too far down, which may allow contact with the axle on tight turns. I've had no problems in doing a T/S lift install and removal on Dodge products and never heard of this happening, but perhaps on the Explorers it's a possibility.

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